Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived in Moscow on Monday for a three-day visit that shows off Beijing’s new diplomatic swagger and offers a welcome political lift for Russian President Vladimir Putin just days after an international arrest warrant was issued for him on war crimes charges related to the war in Ukraine.

China and Russia have described Xi’s trip as part of efforts to further deepen their “no-limits friendship.” China looks to Russia as a source of oil and gas for its energy-hungry economy and as a partner in opposing what both see as U.S. domination of global affairs.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that, over dinner Monday, Putin and Xi will touch on issues related to Ukraine, adding that Russia’s president will likely offer a “detailed explanation” of Moscow’s view of the current situation.

Broader talks involving officials from both countries on a range of subjects are scheduled for Tuesday, according to Peskov.

For Putin, Xi’s presence at the Kremlin is a prestige visit and a diplomatic triumph, allowing him to tell Western leaders allied with Ukraine that their efforts to isolate him have fallen short.

In an article published in the People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece, Putin described Xi’s visit as a “landmark event” that “reaffirms the special nature of the Russia-China partnership.”

Putin also said the meeting sent a message to Washington that the two countries weren’t prepared to accept attempts to weaken them.

“The U.S. policy of simultaneously deterring Russia and China, as well as all those who do not bend to the American diktat, is getting ever fiercer and more aggressive,” Putin wrote.

Xi’s trip comes after the International Criminal Court in The Hague announced Friday that it wants to put Putin on trial for the abductions of thousands of children from Ukraine.

China portrays Xi’s visit as part of normal diplomatic exchanges and has offered little detail about what the trip aims to accomplish, though the nearly 13 months of war in Ukraine cast a long shadow on the talks.

At a daily briefing in Beijing on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Xi’s trip was a “journey of friendship, cooperation and peace.”

Of the war, Wang said: “China will uphold its objective and fair position on the Ukrainian crisis and play a constructive role in promoting peace talks.”

Beijing’s leap into Ukraine issues follows its recent success in brokering talks between Iran and its chief Middle Eastern rival, Saudi Arabia, which agreed to restore diplomatic ties after years of tensions.

Flush with that success, Xi called for China to play a bigger role in managing global affairs.

“President Xi will have an in-depth exchange of views with President Putin on bilateral relations and major international and regional issues of common concern,” Wang said.

He added that Xi aims to “promote strategic coordination and practical cooperation between the two countries and inject new impetus into the development of bilateral relations.”

China last month called for a cease-fire and peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky cautiously welcomed Beijing’s involvement, but the overture fizzled.

The Kremlin has welcomed China’s peace plan and said it would be discussed in talks between Putin and Xi.

Washington strongly rejected Beijing’s call for a cease-fire, calling it, in effect, a ratification of the Kremlin’s battlefield gains.

Ukrainian officials say they won’t bend in their terms for a peace accord.

“The first and main point is the capitulation or withdrawal of the Russian occupation troops from the territory of Ukraine in accordance with the norms of international law and the UN Charter,” Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, tweeted Monday.

That means restoring “sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity,” he wrote.

Xi’s trip to Russia comes after the International Criminal Court on Friday issued a warrant for Putin’s arrest on war crimes charges.

The Kremlin doesn’t recognize the authority of the the International Criminal Court and has rejected its move against Putin as “legally null and void.” China, the U.S. and Ukraine also don’t recognize the ICC, either, but the court’s announcement tarnished Putin’s international standing.

China’s Foreign Ministry on Monday called on the ICC to “respect the jurisdictional immunity” of a head of state and “avoid politicization and double standards.”

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, said Monday that the ICC’s move to issue an arrest warrant for Putin will have “monstrous consequences” for international law.

“A gloomy sunset of the entire system of international relations is coming, trust is exhausted,” Medvedev wrote on his messaging app channel.

He argued that, in the past, the ICC destroyed its credibility by failing to prosecute purported U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq.

He also cautioned that the court in The Hague could be a target for a Russian missile strike. Medvedev has in the past made bombastic statements and claims.